A federal judge issued a scathing dissent of a ruling tossing Texas's new congressional map as the battle moves to the Supreme Court.
U.S. Circuit Judge Jerry Smith issued a scathing, lengthy dissent aimed at a district judge on a panel that struck downSmith accused U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown of “embarking on a results-oriented crusade against the Texas Legislature” in the majority opinionof the state’s recently passed congressional map, ripping that decision and laying out his issues with Brown’s conduct.
Smith issued his dissent one day after the majority on the three-judge panel released its ruling. In it, he argued the winners of the majority’s ruling areAppeals Court halts 'overbroad' order restricting federal immigration officers' use of force“In 37 years as a federal judge, I’ve served on hundreds of three-judge panels. This is the most blatant exercise of judicial activism that I have ever witnessed,” Smith said in hisBrown had written in his Tuesday majority opinion that the map passed by the Texas legislature earlier this year, which would net Republicans up to five additionalseats, amounted to an unlawful racial gerrymander. The panel ordered the state to use its existing maps for the 2026 elections.The forthcoming appeal at the Supreme Court comes as the justices are set to rule on a case that could overrule how racial gerrymandering cases are decided and when they can be brought. the high court’s current Voting Rights Act precedent, which mandates the creation of minority-majority districts if a minority group is compact geographically and makes up a significant portion of the state’s population. Smith pointed to the pending case as a reason why the injunction should be paused pending the outcome of the Louisiana case.may fundamentally change the nature of this case also weighs in favor of a stay. It is reckless for this court to proceed with opining on the merits, which amounts to nothing more than a general guess as to whether existing voting-rights jurisprudence will surviveTexas officials are expected to appeal the ruling in the coming days, hoping to restore the recently passed map for use in the 2026 election as deadlines for next year’s races approach. The filing deadline for the 2026 elections in Texas is Dec. 8.
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